The Autopointer: A New Augmented-Reality Device for Transfer of Planning Data into the Operating Room.

Abstract

To transfer preoperatively planned data into the operating room (OR), registration is necessary as well as a method to localize the planned data in the OR. This data may comprise e.g. entry point positions into the human body in case of minimally invasive interventions or cutting trajectories. State of the art methods for localization are e.g.: • The robot itself is used as a pointing device (exploiting the forward kinematics) to position other devices and the workpiece with respect to each other. • An optically tracked pointer is used to find positions in the OR, assisted either by a VR representation of the scene where the pointer is visualized, or by simple commands ("move right/left/up/down..."). • The plan is projected with e.g. video or laser projectors. This work presents a first prototype of the autopointer, a new patent pending device using a handheld optically tracked laser scanner to localize preoperatively planned data in the operating room (OR).